STlje  < 


Chicago  theological  g>emmarj> 


Agister 


Published  Four  Times  a  Year,  January,  March,  May  and  November, 
by  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary 


Vol.  IV.  MAY,  1911  No.  4 

THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  NUMBER 

CONTENTS 

EDITORIAL 

SOME  RURAL  PROBLEMS     .     .     Kenyon  L.  Butterfield 

COMMUNITY  THINKING  IN  THE  COUNTRY 
TOWN  CHURCH     .     .     Rev.   Richard  Henry  Edwards 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  A  RURAL  FIELD 

Rev.  Dwight  H.  Piatt 

THE  STRATEGIC  COUNTRY  CHURCH    .     .     . 

Rev.   Harry   Deiman 


Entered  as  second  class  matter  31  March,  1908,  at  the  post  office  at  Chicago,  Illinois, 
under  the  act  of  Congress  of  16  July,  1894 

CHICAGO  20  North  Ashland  Boulevard  ILLINOIS 


Stye 

Chicago  Ideological  ikminarp 


Agister 


Published  Four  Times  a  Year,  January,  March,  May  and  November, 
by  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary 


Vol.  IV.  MAY,  1911  No.  4 


THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  NUMBER 


CONTENTS 

Page 
EDITORIAL 2 

SOME  RURAL  PROBLEMS.     Kenyon  L.  Butterfield.       3 

COMMUNITY     THINKING     IN     THE     COUNTRY 
TOWN    CHURCH.     Rev.    Richard    Henry    Edwards.       8 

RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION    IN    A    RURAL    FIELD. 
Rev.    Dwight    H.    Piatt 13 

THE  STRATEGIC  COUNTRY  CHURCH.    Rev.  Harry 
Deiman 17 


EDITORIAL. 

The  country  church  is  in  constant  evidence  in  the  social  litera- 
ture of  to-day.  Whether  it  presents  a  problem  or  only  a  job  is 
an  open  question  In  either  case  it  is  commanding  attention.  So 
the  current  number  of  The  Register  is  devoted  to  phases  of  this 
topic.  If  a  sense  of  responsibility  and  opportunity  may  be  quick- 
ened its  purpose  willl  be  served. 

The  articles  are  of  sufficient  worth  to  secure  perusal  on  their 
own  account;  but  brief  biographical  notes  may  add  to  the  interest. 
Dr.  Butterfield  is  president  of  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural 
College.  He  has  been  identified  with  the  cause  of  education  from 
early  manhood,  first  as  extension  worker  in  connection  with  the 
agricultural  college  of  Michigan  and  subsequently  as  president  of 
state  agricultural  colleges  in  Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts, 
respectively.  He  was  an  important  member  of  the  National  Coun- 
try Life  Commission  and  is  one  of  the  best  known  promoters  of 
"better  living"  as  a  factor  in  rural  progress.  His  readiness  to  con- 
tribute out  of  his  crowded  time  to  this  issue  of  The  Register  is  a 
token  of  the  importance  and  the  interest  he  attributes  to  the 
church. 

Mr.  Edwards,  the  Congregational  student  pastor  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin,  is  alert  with  an  intelligence  and  enthusiasm 
characteristic  of  that  university  toward  every  phase  of  social  bet- 
terment. His  article  is  indicative  of  the  stand  being  taken  and  the 
work  being  done  by  the  church  at  large  and  particularly  by  our 
own  denomination  in  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  Piatt  is  a  graduate  of  Washburn  College  and  of  the 
Seminary  in  the  class  of  1894.  Like  his  father  before  him,  who 
was  a  pioneer  preacher  in  Kansas,  and  who  preached  the  first 
sermon  in  several  counties,  Mr.  Piatt  has  given  his  talents  oi 
hard  work,  organization,  versatility  of  endeavor  and  effective 
service  to  rural  communities.     He  knows  whereof  he  writes. 

Mr.  Deiman  is  the  Seminary  Fellow  for  the  current  year.  His 
two  years  of  advanced  study  will  be  spent  in  agricultural  col- 
leges and  on  the  field.  He  is  a  man  of  wide  knowledge,  of  ma- 
ture judgment  and  of  earnest  purpose.  Although  _  no  arrange- 
ments have  been  completed,  it  is  hoped  that  he  will  be  able  to 
conduct  a  course  on  the  Rural  Life  in  our  Correspondence^  De- 
partment. If  there  is  a  demand  for  this,  a  word  to  the  Seminary 
to  that  effect  would  guide  us  in  our  judgment. 


===== ===  THE  =— ===== 

Chicago  Theological   Seminary 

REGISTER 


Vol.  IV.  MAY,  1911  No.  4 


SOME  RURAL  PROBLEMS. 

President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield, 
Massachusetts  Agricultural  College, 

It  is  unfortunate  that  we  have  so  often  misinterpreted  the 
essential  divinity  of  profit-making  toil.  It  is  doubly  unfortunate 
that  we  have  so  little  preaching  to-day  concerning  the  fundamental 
need  of  securing  out  of  profit-producing  labor  a  result  to  manhood 
essentially  moral. 

The  individual  farmer  farms  in  order  that  he  may  make  a 
profit.  To  ignore  this  fact  is  to  begin  at  the  wrong  end  of  the 
whole  rural  problem.  To  enable  the  individual  farmer  to  make  a 
better  profit  is  the  first  rural  question. 

The  same  principle  applies  to  the  farmers  as  a  class.  Indeed, 
merely  to  teach  a  comparatively  small  number  of  individual  farm- 
ers to  make  a  larger  profit  is  not  hitting  the  real  rural  problem. 
An  efficient  teacher  of  political  economy  said  to  me  the  other  day, 
"The  rich  men  of  America,  whether  consciously  or  not,  believe  in 
the  peasantizing  of  the  American  farmer."  This  may  not  be  the 
fact.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  unbridled  industrial  forces  of  the 
day  are  tending  to  peasantize  the  American  farmer.  One  means 
of  checking  this  tendency  is  deliberately  to  attempt  to  make  farming 
as  a  business  more  profitable  to  the  great  mass  of  the  farmers. 

The  Master  gave  new  validity  to  the  old  proverb  that  man 
does  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  He  never  denied  the  necessity  of 
bread.     The  increasing  millions  of  our  cities  must  have  food ;  the 


4  THE    REGISTER 

farmer  must  grow  this  food.  The  farmer's  interest  is  to  grow  this 
food  at  a  minimum  of  expense  and  to  dispose  of  it  at  a  maximum  of 
profit.  The  consumer's  interest  is  to  have  a  constant  and  varied 
supply  of  wholesome,  nutritious  food  at  a  minimum  of  cost.  Herein 
lies  one  great  problem  of  civilization — this  adjustment  between  the 
grower  and  the  eater.  Now  the  adjustment  must  be  made  in  terms 
of  equity  to  both.  If  we  cheapen  food  at  the  expense  of  the  grower, 
we  not  only  lessen  the  efficiency  of  a  fundamental  industry,  but  we 
cheapen  the  man  who  grows  the  food.  We  must  seek,  then,  so 
to  balance  these  apparently  opposing  interests  that  they  shall 
merge  into  one  common  interest. 

The  practical  means  of  achieving  the  industrial  independence 
of  the  farmer  seem  to  be  two :  ( i )  Industrial  education  ;  (2)  busi- 
ness co-operation.  The  forces  of  education  are  gradually  organ- 
izing themselves  into  a  comprehensive  campaign  for  reaching  every 
man  on  the  soil  with  the  gospel  of  better  methods  of  farming. 
Business  co-operation  among  American  farmers  develops  slowly. 
The  pressure  of  necessity,  however,  must  soon  achieve  real  results. 
The  difference  between  the  farmer's  price  and  the  consumer's  price 
is  so  markedly  excessive  that  sooner  or  later,  through  co-operation 
among  the  growers  and  probably  through  a  parallel  co-operation 
among  the  eaters,  the  present  economic  waste  in  food-distribution 
may  be  eliminated.  One  of  the  important  features  of  this  general 
campaign  for  industrial  betterment  of  the  farming  class  is  the  inau- 
guration of  agricultural  surveys,  by  which  an  intimate  study  is  to 
be  made  of  the  conditions  under  which  a  given  community  of 
farmers  may  best  pursue  their  work. 

Given  this  foundation  of  business  profit  to  the  farming  class, 
what  shall  we  build  thereon  ?  For  let  no  man  suppose  that  we  are 
to  be  content  with  the  industrial  foundation  only.  The  structure 
which  shall  rise  on  the  solid  walls  of  business  gain  must  be  a 
multitude  of  rural  neighborhoods  in  which  the  upbuilding  of  human 
character  and  the  development  of  human  welfare  are,  after  all,  the 


THE    REGISTER  5 

great  facts.  In  other  words,  we  must  have  rural  communities 
which,  in  respect  to  morality,  intelligence,  sociability,  spiritual 
life,  idealism,  shall  represent  some  of  the  high  results  that  we  an- 
ticipate from  our  on-going  civilization. 

This  means  that  the  institutions  of  the  community  must  be 
active,  efficient,  permanent.  These  institutions  comprise  three 
great  classes — the  schools  and  other  means  of  education,  the  farm- 
ers' organizations  and  other  means  of  class  co-operation,  the  church 
and  all  agencies  of  religion.  The  relation  between  these  institu- 
tions and  the  economic  success  of  the  community  is  very  close. 
Mere  industrial  prosperity  in  a  farming  region  by  no  means 
indicates  that  human  welfare  has  been  guarded.  There  are  in 
America  to-day  prosperous  farming  regions  where  school,  church, 
farmers'  society  are  weak  and  inefficient.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  build  up  great  social  institutions  except 
where  a  reasonable  business  prosperity  exists.  Of  course,  the  great 
thing  is  not  business  prosperity,  but  justice,  mercy,  truth,  all  those 
things  that  we  call  character.  Even  these  great  social  institutions 
are  but  means  to  an  end,  and  the  end  is  human  character. 

In  the  development  of  a  great  rural  civilization  it  is  important 
that  the  institutions  of  society  shall  realize  that  the  point  of  view 
is  the  vital  thing.  Is  the  country  church,  for  example,  a  sort  of 
ship  whose  sole  purpose  is  to  convey  its  officers  and  sailors  to  a  port 
of  safety,  serving  merely  those  who  belong  to  it  ?  Or  is  it  designed 
to  utilize  the  service  of  the  officers  and  crew  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  the  whole  community  to  a  larger  life?  Does  the  church 
belong  to  the  people  who  belong  to  the  church,  or  does  the  church 
belong  to  all  who  need  it  ? 

The  same  thought  comes  up  with  reference  to  the  work  of  the 
school,  of  the  grange,  of  the  public  library,  of  the  agricultural 
college,  of  the  family — yes,  of  the  individual  farmer.  Is  the  profit 
of  the  individual,  the  enlargement  of  the  organization,  the  gain  of 
the  few  to  be  the  entire  puropse?    Or  shall  we  recognize  the  com- 


6  THE    REGISTER 

munity  idea  and  so  develop  community  service,  community  insti- 
tutions, community  pride,  community  programs,  community  ambi- 
tions? 

This  idea  of  the  integrity  of  the  community,  whether  it  be  of 
the  city  or  of  the  country  neighborhood,  seems  to  be  growing  apace, 
and  I  think  promises  to  revitalize  the  forces  of  righteousness.  We 
are  not  to  ignore  the  individual,  but  to  magnify  the  good  of  all. 
It  is  not  that  we  deny  the  rights  of  the  man,  but  that  we  magnify 
the  rights  of  men,  and  especially  the  duty  of  the  individual  to  his 
fellows.  It  is  not  that  we  shall  leave  undone  the  service  to  the 
one,  but  that  we  shall  enlarge  the  service  to  the  many.  In  our 
rural  life  this  community  idea  specially  needs  to  be  emphasized 
because  of  the  extreme  individualism  of  the  farmer. 

There  are  many  minor  problems  of  our  American  rural  life.  I 
have  thus  far  outlined  the  fundamental  things.  We  need  also,  for 
example,  better  roads  and  other  means  of  communication  in  the 
country  districts  in  order  that  the  comparative  isolation  of  the 
farmer  and  his  family  may  be  diminished  and  a  closer  union  of 
interests  be  developed. 

We  need  a  larger,  a  saner,  a  healthier  recreative  life  in  the 
country.  The  play  spirit  must  have  larger  scope  and  must  run 
through  cleaner  channels. 

Rural  ideals  must  be  developed — ideals  of  personal  life  and 
character,  ideals  of  beautiflcation,  ideals  of  community  advance- 
ment, ideals  of  local  patriotism. 

The  poetry  of  farm  life  needs  enhancing  in  the  minds  of  the 
sons  of  the  soil.  Out  of  all  the  toil  and  drudgery  of  farm  life, 
out  of  blighting  frost  and  withering  drought,  out  of  the  thunder 
and  the  hail,  there  shall  emerge  a  great  sentiment  of  joy,  an  exhil- 
aration in  working  hand  in  hand  with  the  Lord  God  Almighty. 

Intellectual  interests  need  enforcement  through  more  efficient 
schools,  through  public  libraries,  through  organized  reading  courses, 
through  active  agencies  of  culture. 


THE   REGISTER  7 

Woman's  work  must  be  simplified  in  its  drudgery,  magnified 
in  its  service,  and  placed  on  a  plane  at  once  scientific  and  inviting. 
This  is  no  small  task.  It  calls  for  study,  devotion,  sympathy  and 
perpetual  effort. 

The  city  and  the  country  are  to  work  together,  because  in  the 
last  analysis  the  rural  problem  is  simply  a  phase  of  the  problem 
common  to  both  city  and  country — a  better  civilization.  The 
farmer  constitutes  a  class  somewhat  by  himself,  but  he  is  an  inte- 
gral part  of  the  total  life  of  the  nation.  He  is  not  to  be  ignored  by 
the  city  man.  They  must  work  together  in  order  that  each  may 
come  to  his  own,  and  in  order  that  each  may  contribute  of  his  own 
to  the  common  welfare  of  all. 


8  THE    REGISTER 

COMMUNITY  THINKING  IN  THE  COUNTRY  TOWN 

CHURCH. 

Rev.  Richard  Henry  Edwards, 

Congregational  University  Pastor,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

Country  town  churches  predominate  in  practically  all  denom- 
inations. Run  over  the  rolls  and  this  will  be  strikingly  manifest. 
In  many  states  the  churches  located  in  large  cities  or  in  the  open 
country  are  so  few  in  number  as  to  be  well-nigh  negligible  in  gen- 
eralizations. The  country  town  church  is  beginning  to  interest  all 
of  us,  and  not  alone  because  it  is  the  most  prevalent  of  all  idealistic 
social  institutions,  but  also  because  it  is  an  indigenous  growth 
representing  a  certain  amount  of  actual  socialization ;  because  it  is 
a  pregnant  generator  of  ethical  influences,  and  because  the  Christi- 
anity which  it  professes  is  such  a  high-power  social  dynamic  wher- 
ever the  church  lets  it  loose. 

Potentially,  at  least,  the  country  town  church  has  the  higher 
life  of  the  nation  in  its  grasp.  As  one  goes  across  country  in  an 
aeroplane  he  sees  this  dotted  out  on  the  landscape  beneath  him.  If 
some  Son  of  God  could  only  quicken  every  one  of  these  churches 
to  full  social  efficiency  the  healing  of  the  nation  would  be  immi- 
nent. If  all  of  them  could  be  released  to  a  lively  community 
consciousness  and  made  betterers  of  social  conditions,  as  well  as 
inspirers  of  individual  souls,  then  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  would 
begin  to  glide  in  our  direction. 

Let  us  look  in  on  one  of  them.  It  may  be  any  one  of  the  two 
to  ten  churches  which  the  average  country  town  affords.  The 
denomination  makes  little  difference.  Sociologically  speaking,  the 
denominations  are  all  pretty  much  alike.  A  company  of  people  get 
together  for  the  worship  of  God,  for  religious  and  social  fellowship, 
and  for  the  proclamation  of  the  "Gospel,"  as  they  conceive  it,  to 
the  community.  They  are  united  by  certain  ideas  about  the  Great 
Head  of  the  Church,  by  certain  bonds  of  sentiment,  by  certain  tra- 


THE    REGISTER  9 

ditions  about  church  government,  by  a  temperamental  kinship  and 
social  relationships. 

A  beneficent  work  is  being  done  if  the  church  is  even  moder- 
ately efficient.  Children  are  being  taught  some  of  the  funda- 
mentals of  righteousness.  In  the  face  of  the  pathetic  and  general 
tendency  of  religious  ideals  and  moral  standards  to  sag,  the  ideals 
and  standards  of  a  number  of  people  here  are  being  upheld.  Relig- 
ious aspirations  and  purposes  are  being  quickened.  Young  people 
are  learning  to  live  unselfishly.  The  ideal  personality  is  being  held 
aloft  as  imitable.  A  few  members  are  added  to  the  church  yearly ; 
and  its  very  presence  in  the  community  acts  as  an  inhibition  upon 
the  forces  of  wickedness. 

But  the  same  social  fallacy  which  has  characterized  the  thinking 
of  the  other  established  institutions  in  the  community  characterizes 
likewise  the  thinking  of  the  church.  The  lodges,  the  women's 
groups,  the  literary  and  social  clubs  have  all  thought  of  the  com- 
munity merely  as  a  source  of  membership.  Their  primary  purpose 
has  been  mutual  pleasure  or  profit  for  their  members  and  the 
maintenance  of  their  organization.  The  community  might  be 
helped  incidentally  through  benefits  received  by  members,  but  the 
definite  purpose  to  improve  social  conditions  in  the  community 
has  not  been  co-ordinately  developed  with  the  particular  purpose 
of  the  organization.  The  common  fact  about  all  these  groups  in  an 
unsocialized  town  is  that  they  build  up  an  organization  out  of  the 
community  and  give  their  zeal,  their  loyalty,  their  enthusiasm  to 
it  as  an  end  in  itself.  The  social  fallacy  has  been  to  boost  "our 
lodge,"  "our  club,"  "our  association,"  "without  recognizing  the 
obligation  which  rests  upon  every  organized  group  of  citizens  to 
boost  also  "our  town."  The  resulting  jealousies  and  cross  pur- 
poses are  painfully  familiar,  not  to  mention  the  utter  lack  of  any 
community  purpose  or  program. 

The  country  town  church,  except  in  rare  cases  of  socialization, 
has  fallen  into  this  same  social  fallacv.     A  cross-section  of  its  work 


io  THE    REGISTER 

would  reveal  how  abnormally  large  an  amount  of  effort  is  devoted 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  organization.  Its  gospel  is  mostly  for 
the  comfort,  guidance  and  inspiration  of  its  own  members.  There 
is  not  much  thorough  "Social  Gospel"  in  it  yet.  Personal  morals 
and  other  worldliness  are  both  standardized,  and  its  benevolences, 
by  analogy,  are  first  for  its  own  poor  and  then  for  foreign  mis- 
sions. The  local  community  slips  between  the  two.  It  has  never 
had  the  focus  in  church  thinking  and  is  still  "the  world" — the  evil 
world  out  of  which  "sinners"  are  to  be  saved  for  heaven.  The 
concrete  community  ideal  has  not  yet  stirred  the  creative  imagina- 
tion of  the  average  country  town  church.  The  unselfishness 
preached  in  the  pulpit  and  nobly  practiced  in  the  community  by 
individuals  has  not  been  practiced  toward  the  community  by  the 
churches  as  organizations ;  and  the  absence  of  thorough  community 
action  is  a  primary  reason  why  the  organization  is  often  so  hard 
to  maintain.  The  churches  have  not  been  willing  to  lose  their 
group  lives,  if  need  be,  in  order  that  they  might  gain  a  perfected 
community  life.  Church  competition  and  overlapping  are  pathetic 
proof. 

And  yet  a  certain  amount  of  community  action  has  been  taken 
by  the  average  country  town  church.  The  attack  upon  a  trinity 
of  social  evils  has  long  been  standardized.  They  are  poverty,  vice 
and  intemperance.  From  the  beginning  the  poor  of  the  parish 
have  been  cared  for  and  a  certain  amount  of  benevolence  has  leaked 
over  into  the  community.  From  the  beginning  vice  has  been 
attacked  because  of  its  inherent  hatefulness  to  the  Christian  con- 
science and  because  it  undermines  the  very  organization  of  the 
church  itself  as  with  the  Corinthians  to  whom  Paul  wrote.  In  re- 
cent times  the  incompatibility  of  intemperance  with  Christianity  has 
become  so  clear  that  it,  too,  has  been  put  under  the  ban.  These  are 
the  most  flagrant  of  social  evils,  conspicuously  hateful  and  anti- 
Christian,  and  it  is  a  great  achievement  for  the  Christian  conscious- 
ness to  have  standardized  the  attack  upon  them.    The  average  coun- 


THE    REGISTER  n 

try  town  church  has  measured  up  pretty  well  in  this  warfare  and 
is  worthy  of  all  praise,  for  much  of  its  struggle  has  been  downright 
valiant  fighting  against  as  bad  beasts  as  those  at  Ephesus.  All  the 
way  through,  despite  its  weaknesses,  the  church  has  been  a  mighty 
molder  of  public  opinion,  an  inspirer  of  moral  leadership,  and  has 
revealed  the  chariots  and  horsemen  of  fire  which  fight  with  those 
who  fight  for  righteousness. 

And  yet  in  the  new  day  of  the  social  awakening  the  church 
cannot  be  content  with  only  three  social  enmities.  There  must  be 
more  and  sharper.  He  who  came  to  give  not  peace  but  a  sword 
calls  the  country  town  church  to  standardize  the  attack  on  a  larger 
number  of  social  evils.  Concrete  community  thinking  in  any  town 
will  make  clear  what  they  are.  We  are  in  the  process  of  enlarge- 
ment already  under  the  impetus  of  the  social  movement.  Some  of 
the  churches  are  awake  to  the  hideousness  of  the  child  labor  prob- 
lem. The  long  workday  for  women,  and  industrial  exploitation 
in  general,  begin  to  be  rated  as  anti-Christian.  Corruption  in 
government  is  branded,  if  not  abolished.  The  anti-tuberculosis 
crusade  is  now  generally  supported.  Gradually  the  churches  in- 
crease the  number  of  their  social  hostilities.  Wherever  the  forces 
of  wickedness  and  oppression  show  their  heads,  there  the  churches 
must  learn  to  think  like  a  flash  and  wield  two-edged  swords. 

But  the  negative  approach  to  the  community,  however  effect- 
ive, is  not  enough.  Constructive  community  thinking  is  needed. 
Why  not  dare  to  look  for  creative  imagination  in  the  churches,  for 
a  definite  social  betterment  program  for  "our  town,"  and  the  con- 
secrated leadership  which  alone  will  make  its  achievement  possible? 
Why  should  a  church  not  do  some  concrete  thinking  like  this  about 
the  public  health — Has  there  been  any  illness  or  death  from  a 
preventable  disease  in  '-'our  town"  lately?  Yes,  a  number  of  cases. 
Could  such  calamities  in  "our  town"  be  due  to  an  open  cesspool, 
an  insanitary  slaughter-house,  stagnant  swamp  water,  a  defiled 
stream,  unventilated  homes,  venereal  contagion,  or  old   dwelling 


12  THE    REGISTER 

houses  that  the  health  officer  should  have  condemned  long  ago? 
Jesus  gave  much  time  to  healing  the  sick.  Is  the  social  prevention 
of  disease  any  less  divine?  Why  not  get  down  to  the  study  of  the 
health  of  our  town?  Why  not  make  every  nook  of  it  sanitary? 
Why  not  establish  health  education  and  see  that  every  boy  and 
girl  has  a  fair  chance  to  grow  a  clean  body,  a  healthy  mind  and  a 
beautiful  soul? 

Why  not  do  some  more  thinking  like  this  about  public  recre- 
ation? Did  not  Jesus  go  blithely  through  the  fields  with  his 
friends  and  relish  the  joy  at  a  wedding  in  Cana  of  Galilee? 

Why  not  do  some  concrete  thinking  about  town  beautification  ? 

Did  the  Master  not  quicken  at  the  waving  lilies  and  draw  pro- 
foundest  truth  from  the  beauty  of  the  habitable  earth? 

Why  not  some  more  thinking  about  the  actual  state  of  morals 
in  "our  town"  and  those  hidden  parasites  that  work  in  the  lives 
of  boys  and  girls? 

Did  He  not  dare  to  utter  the  aboslute  ideal  for  sex  morality 
and  did  He  not  love  the  ineffable  beauty  of  childhood  with  a  love 
unspeakable  and  full  of  wrath  for  its  spoilers? 

And  then  why  not  some  more  concrete  thinking  about  business 
conditions,  about  education,  about  government  and  other  things? 

Shall  the  churches  not  dare  to  plan  an  ideal  community — the 
best  possible  people  living  together  in  friendliness  in  "our  town" 
under  the  best  possible  conditions?  Why  should  any  average 
country  town  church  not  dream  a  new  dream? — and  not  so  new, 
either !  Social  Perfectionism !  That's  the  need  !  Personal  perfec- 
tionism gets  easily  sidetracked  on  the  switch  of  piosity.  Put  social 
perfectionism  on  the  other  end  of  the  axle  and  then  the  country 
town  church  will  speed  on  the  main  track  straight  to  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven. 


THE    REGISTER  13 

RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION  IN  A  RURAL  FIELD. 

Rev.  Dwight  H.  Platt,  Overbrook,  Kan. 
I  take  it  that  the  editor  of  The  Register  in  the  series  of 
articles  dealing  with  problems  of  rural  churches  which  he  is 
herewith  presenting,  desires  not  so  much  discussion  of  theories  as 
description  of  methods  which  have  been  tried.  I  am  asked  to  write 
of  "Religious  Education  in  a  Rural  Field." 

I.  The  Field.  Its  center  is  Overbrook,  Kansas,  a  village  of 
500  people  in  a  rich  and  populous  farming  community.  The  parish 
is  located  in  the  main  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Osage  county,  but 
extends  several  miles  east  and  southeast  into  Douglas  and  Franklin 
counties.  It  is  nearly  twenty  miles  across,  extending  through  a 
radius  ten  miles  from  Overbrook.  The  population  is  American, 
farmers  of  the  best  type.  The  parish  is  geographically  the  educa- 
tional center  of  Kansas.  The  Kansas  State  Agricultural  College 
is  75  miles  northwest;  Washburn  College  (Congregational),  25 
miles  northwest;  the  Kansas  State  University,  30  miles  northeast; 
Baker  University  (M.  E.),  18  miles  east;  Ottawa  University 
(Baptist),  25  miles  southeast;  the  Kansas  State  Normal  School 
and  the  College  of  Emporia  (Presbyterian),  50  miles  southwest. 
The  parish  sends  young  people  to  all  of  these  schools.  The  village 
maintains  a  high  school  which  is  upon  the  credited  list  of  the  state 
university.  In  the  village  are  an  M.  E.,  a  Congregational  and  a 
small  Dunkard  church.  Both  the  M.  E.  and  Congregational 
churches  have  out-stations  where  Sunday  afternoon  services  are 
held.  The  extent  and  populousness  of  the  parish  give  the  M.  E. 
and  Congregational  churches  room  for  growth  without  crowding. 

II.  The  Educational  Work  of  the  Congregational 
Church  of  Overbrook.  The  minister  gives  Biblical  instruc- 
tion a  conspicuous  place  in  his  work.  This  instruction  may  be 
described  under  five  heads : 

I.  The  Monday  Night  Class.  This  class  is  made  up  of  men 
and  women  who  work  hard  every  day.     It  meets  each  week  at  the 


H  THE    REGISTER 

home  of  the  Sunday  school  superintendent.  The  minister  is  the 
teacher.  He  works  out  his  own  course  of  study.  Mimeograph 
copies  of  the  work  for  each  evening  are  given  the  class  one  week  in 
advance.  The  studies  are  historical.  Since  its  organization  two 
years  ago  the  class  has  gone  thoroughly  into  the  study  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  Hebrew  people  up  to  the  close  of  the  reign  of  King 
Saul.  Questions  of  history,  geography,  comparative  religion  and 
Biblical  criticism  have  been  investigated  in  the  light  of  modern 
scholarship.  At  the  close  of  each  period  the  class  takes  a  written 
test.  Papers  are  carefully  examined  and  rigidly  graded.  The 
members  of  this  class  are  carrying  the  responsibilities  of  home  and 
business,  but  their  teacher  would  not  fear  to  put  them  into  a  com- 
petitive examination  with  college  students  who  have  taken  courses 
in  the  Bible  School  of  Washburn  College. 

2.  The  Brotherhood  Class.  This  class  consists  of  men  only. 
It  holds  a  certificate  as  an  organized  adult  Bible  class  of  the  Kan- 
sas State  Sunday  School  Association  and  is  also  a  chapter  of  the 
Congregational  Brotherhood  of  Kansas.  It  combines  the  features 
of  both  of  these  institutions.  Last  fall  it  entertained  75  men  at 
a  three-course  lunch  in  the  Grange  Hall.  The  principal  speaker 
was  Prof.  W.  D.  Stem  of  Abilene.  Bible  study  overshadows  every- 
thing else  with  this  class.  After  joining  in  the  opening  exercises  of 
the  Sunday  school  the  men  adjourn  in  winter  to  the  parlor  of  the 
manse  and  in  summer  to  the  beautiful  grove  at  the  rear  of  the 
church.     The  minister  also  teaches  this  class. 

Each  man  is  assigned  a  topic  one  week  in  advance.  Below  is 
an  abridged  outline  of  a  recent  Sunday  morning  study: 

AMOS. 
I.  Amos,  the  Man. 

1.  The  great  prophets  of  Israel  during  this  period. 

2.  The  birthplace  and  early  training  of  Amos. 
II.  Amos,  the  Prophet. 

1 .  The  style  of  Amos. 


THE    REGISTER  15 

2.  The  theology  of  Amos. 

3.  The  message  of  Amos. 

4.  The  introductory  address  of  Amos.     (Amos  1  :3  ;  2:16). 

5.  Some  forms  of  unrighteousness  denounced  by  Amos: 

( 1 )  The  oppression  of  the  poor. 

(2)  The  extravagance  and  vices  of  the  rich. 

(3)  The  attitude  of  Jeroboam  II  and  his  nobles  to- 

ward truth-speaking  prophets. 

(4)  The  execution  of  justice  in  the  civil  and  criminal 

courts  of  Jeroboam  II. 

(5)  Amos'   estimate   of   the   popular   religion   of   the 

times. 

Each  man  is  given  in  turn  a  sub-topic  like  one  of  the  above. 
The  teacher  places  in  his  hands  sources  of  information.  At  the 
hour  of  recitation  he  is  called  upon  to  give  the  class  all  the  infor- 
mation which  he  has  gathered  upon  his  sub-topic.  No  one  is  al- 
lowed to  interrupt  him  while  he  is  doing  this.  When  he  is  done, 
the  sub-topic  is  thrown  open  for  a  short  general  discussion  by  the 
class.  Then  the  teacher  clinches  the  discussion  briefly.  Then  the 
class  takes  up  the  next  sub-topic  in  the  same  manner.  The  class 
does  not  feel  compelled  to  complete  a  study  at  a  single  session. 
The  study  not  finished  one  Sunday  morning  is  continued  the  next 
Sunday  morning.     The  aim  is  thoroughness. 

The  minister  also  prepares  such  outlines  and  sources  of  infor- 
mation for  a  large  class  of  young  men  and  women,  who  are  under 
the  instruction  of  another  teacher.  I  wish  I  had  time  to  describe 
in  detail  the  work  of  this  young  people's  class  and  also  the  work 
of  an  organized  class  of  women. 

III.  The  Cradle  Roll  and  Home  Department.  These 
need  only  mention.    They  are  carried  on  effectively. 

IV.  The  Primary  Sunday  School.  It  has  a  separate  or- 
ganization and  meets  entirely  separately  from  the  other  Sunday 
school.     The  graded  course,  kindergarten  methods,  modern  peda- 


16  THE    REGISTER 

gogical  principles  are  applied  by  the  junior  superintendent,  Mrs. 
J.  A.  Kesler,  assisted  by  a  diligent  corps  of  teachers.  The  thor- 
oughness of  this  work  will  compare  favorably  with  that  which  is 
being  done  for  the  same  children  in  the  public  schools. 

V.  Expository  Lectures  and  Sermons.  The  minister  has 
not  abandoned  entirely  the  topical  method  of  preaching,  but  he  finds 
himself  using  the  expository  method  with  more  frequency,  with 
greater  satisfaction  to  himself  and  with  more  marked  acceptability 
by  the  people.  He  recently  closed  a  series  of  sermons  on  "The 
Decalogue  in  the  Light  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  which  was 
listened  to  with  increasing  interest.  During  the  year  he  has  also 
given  two  series  of  Thursday  evening  lectures;  one  upon  "The 
Gospel  of  Matthew,"  the  other  upon  "Second  Isaiah." 

The  success  of  this  educational  program,  which  is  now  well 
into  its  second  year,  is  due  largely  to  the  willing  response  of  the 
people.  The  progressiveness  of  the  Sunday  school  superintendent, 
Mr.  J.  A.  Kesler,  and  his  faithful  corps  of  teachers  have  made 
such  a  program  possible.  Minister,  superintendent,  teachers  and 
pupils  are  all  ordinary  people  with  no  marked  genius  except  the 
genius  for  hard  work.  The  people  have  not  asked  for  easy  things 
to  do,  and  the  minister  has  not  given  them  easy  things  to  do.  That 
tthe  results  in  terms  of  Christian  character  will  be  far-reaching 
and  thorough-going  is  our  firm  belief. 


THE    REGISTER  17 

THE  STRATEGIC  COUNTRY  CHURCH. 

Rev.  Harry  Deiman,  Geddes,  S.  D. 

An  educator  of  distinction  and  of  critical  judgment  recently 
wrote  that  the  next  great  religious  revival  would  emanate  from 
the  country.  He  gave  no  reason  for  such  a  conclusion.  We  are 
put  to  no  difficulty  in  finding  reasons  in  abundance  to  justify  such 
a  statement.  In  this  brief  essay  we  shall  attempt  to  show  what 
are  the  prevailing  conditions  of  city  life  and  why  they  make  im- 
possible, at  least  for  a  time,  a  genuine  revival  of  religion.  Secondly, 
we  shall  endeavor  to  state  the  conditions  which  make  possible  a 
religious  revival  for  the  rural  life  of  our  countrv.  Thirdly,  we 
shall  briefly  indicate  the  way  the  revival  is  to  be  consummated. 

We  have  seen  within  a  few  decades  the  population  gravitate 
away  from  the  country  into  the  city.  So  abnormal  has  been  this 
migration  that  now  nearly  half  our  population  is  living  in  cities. 
No  sign  at  present  indicates  that  the  abnormal  condition  shall 
cease.  It  is  very  hard  to  say  what  motives  have  acted  as  incentives 
to  this  mighty  shifting  of  population.  The  real  cause  often  lies 
beneath  the  assignable  reasons.  We  may  hazard  a  guess.  The 
rapid  industrial  development  has  offered  great  opportunity  for 
financial  gain.  The  city  has  a  charm  all  its  own,  indescribable  and 
attractive  as  any  lake  or  mountain  side.  To  be  with  people  from 
every  part  of  the  globe,  to  feel  the  thrill  of  a  cosmopolitan  popu- 
lation is  an  exquisite  pleasure.  The  complaint  is  that  the  farm  is 
lonesome,  that  it  is  deficient  in  interesting  pleasure,  while  the  city 
offers  an  unending  attraction  of  amusements.  Then,  too,  the 
opportunities  for  advancement  for  ambitious  people  are  multiplied. 
The  fact  that  other  people  are  going  to  the  city  makes  a  subtle 
appeal.  "It  is  the  thing  to  do."  To  use  one  of  the  common 
phrases  of  the  day — it  is  a  social  movement. 

As  a  result  we  have  our  city  conditions  which  have  assumed 
a  most  menacing  aspect.  Some  are  willing  to  say  that  the  healthy 
life  of  the  nation  depends  upon  the  degree  with  which  the  city 


i8  THE    REGISTER 

life  is  brought  into  conformity  with  the  higher  political,  moral 
and  religious  standards.  Business  has  grown  so  large  as  to  domi- 
nate other  interests.  The  desire  for  pleasure  has  become  a  riot 
of  indulgence.  Popular  novels  and  penny  newspapers  register  the 
acceptable  standards  of  literary  taste.  These  secure  a  reading  pub- 
lic largely  because  of  the  novelties  they  are  able  to  display.  Good 
breeding,  moral  soundness  and  religious  conservatism  are  sadly 
out  of  style.  The  iconoclast  wins  a  hearing,  no  matter  what 
nonsensical  views  his  deranged  mentality  may  conjure  forth.  Men 
and  women  are  treated  to  liberal  doses  of  nauseating  flattery  by 
writers  and  leaders  who  are  either  insincere  or  victims  of  their  own 
brand  of  illusions.  These  leaders  possess  no  knowledge  of  the  past, 
are  incapable  by  temperament  and  training  of  entering  into  histori- 
cal idealism,  and  are  so  profoundly  impressed  with  their  own  ideas 
that  they  believe  the  experience  of  men  in  other  generations  entirely 
vague.  Too  often  their  teachings  are  only  the  reflections  of  their 
own  personal  desires.  Accepted  standards  block  the  way  to  indul- 
gences they  fain  would  seek,  so  they  cry,  "This  is  an  age  of 
liberty,"  and  then  talk  superficially  about  soul  realization  and  new 
standards  of  conduct  about  to  supersede  old  ones. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  earnest,  deep-thinking  men  are 
busily  engaged  in  trying  to  solve  the  city  problem.  They  are 
attempting  to  give  the  cities  a  laboratory  course  in  government  and 
morals.  One  thing  after  another  is  tried,  often  to  the  utter  con- 
fusion of  the  reformers  and  not  infrequently  to  the  merriment  of 
their  opponents.  Some  cities  give  indication  of  decided  improve- 
ment, while  others  have  only  sunken  more  deeply  into  the  cess- 
pool of  political  corruption  and  moral  turpitude.  Only  recently 
that  intrepid  champion  of  good  government,  Heney,  in  San  Fran- 
cisco said  that  his  own  fair  city  was  more  completely  manacled 
to  corruption  than  ever  before.  The  awakening  was  only  a  prelude 
to  a  slavery  more  abject  than  ever.  No  authority  outweighs  Heney 
concerning  conditions  on  the  coast.     If  we  turn  to  moral  condi- 


THE    REGISTER  19 

tions  they  are  just  as  aggravating.  In  one  of  the  recent  medical 
works  entitled  "Women"  the  author  remarks  that  in  large  cities 
man  practically  lives  in  savage  promiscuity.  The  reports  of 
various  commissions  which  have  investigated  vice  in  large  cities 
are  very  startling.  One  authority  in  a  recent  address  said  that  the 
innocence  of  maidenhood  in  factory  and  shop,  so  dear  to  sentiment 
and  the  poetic  heart,  was  a  thing  of  the  past.  Our  city  is  being 
drawn  into  the  maelstrom  of  a  terrible  iniquity.  The  remedies  so 
far  discussed  do  not  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil.  When  we  turn 
to  organized  religion  we  find  a  policy  of  retrenchment  pursued. 
Most  of  the  religious  workers  are  primarily  concerned  with  holding 
the  fort.  An  aggressive,  militant  Christianity  which  is  capable  of 
stemming  the  tide  has  not  yet  appeared.  We  read  the  reports  of 
various  religious  conferences  and  they  speak  of  spiritual  uplift  and 
are  often  highly  gratified  to  record  no  losses.  Spasmodic  revival 
meetings  do  not  even  touch  the  surface  of  things  in  a  city.  The 
great  masses  to  whom  the  appeal  is  directed  do  not  as  much  as  have 
their  attention  taken  away  from  the  busy  round  of  parties  and 
theater-going.  If  they  should  stop  to  give  an  opinion  on  the 
revival  they  would  say  it  was  a  lingering  superstition,  strangely  out 
of  place  in  a  modern  world  whose  religion  is  that  of  cosmic  emo- 
tion and  whose  morals  are  frankly  pagan. 

So  we  find  many  sane  thinkers  turning  to  the  country  for  the 
promise  of  the  future.  As  in  the  past,  so  in  the  future  the  blood 
that  is  rich,  pure  and  capable  must  come  from  the  country.  An 
examination  of  the  childhood  and  youth  of  any  large  number  of 
leaders  in  city  life  will  disclose  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  them 
are  from  the  country,  and  they  only  entered  the  turmoil  of  city 
life  when  well  developed  physically  and  mentally.  City  life  would 
rapidly  deteriorate  if  it  were  not  for  the  constant  influx  of  health, 
vitality  and  moral  stamina  from  the  country  districts.  This  vigor 
from  the  country  is  absorbed  and  subject  to  the  deteriorating  influ- 
ences of  the  city.     The  things  that  wear  people  out  are  found  in 


20  THE    REGISTER 

the  city.  The  din  of  an  incessant,  nerve-racking  noise,  the  push, 
excitement  and  worry  of  business  life,  the  demands  made  upon  time 
and  strength  by  society  and  pleasure,  and  sometimes  the  lure  of  de- 
grading vice  sap  vitality  from  countless  thousands.  Here  extremes 
tend  to  develop,  we  find  the  squalid  home  of  poverty  by  the  simple 
process  of  addition  turned  into  a  full-grown  slum.  Wealth  reach- 
ing the  full  meridian  of  its  strength  tries  to  bring  all  forms  of  ac- 
tivity into  subservience  to  its  own  mercenary  standards.  Bigness 
is  worshiped,  refinement  and  culture  discredited.  The  youth  and 
maiden  with  the  strength  of  oak  in  limb  and  the  freshness  of  spring- 
time in  eye  are  soon  swallowed  up  in  the  city. 

We  know  from  history  that  even  after  mighty  nations  have 
fallen  the  country  life  of  those  nations  was  untainted.  The  city 
being  the  center  and  expression  of  the  nation,  when  it  fell  the 
nation  was  lost.  Easy  methods  of  transportation,  and  cheap  and 
quick  means  of  communication  tend  to  dissolve  the  difference  be- 
tween country  and  city  life  in  modern  times.  The  sentiments  and 
ideals  of  a  city  find  their  way  to  the  country  as  rapidly  as  they  do 
to  the  suburb.  There  is  a  certain  glamor  to  the  city  life  that  easily 
persuades  the  thoughtless  to  think  that  it  stands  for  progress  and 
culture.  So  we  find  in  the  country  the  moving  picture  show,  the 
cheap  vaudeville,  the  ultra-fashionable  styles  and  the  edition  of  the 
yellow  journal  only  twenty-four  hours  old.  Can  we  look  to 
the  country  for  a  religious  revival?  Have  not  the  simple  primitive 
conditions  which  exalted  the  fundamental  instincts  and  kept  the 
affections  pure  disappeared?  Is  not  the  country  an  annex  to  the 
city?  Are  not  all  the  objectionable  tendencies  of  city  life  found  in 
the  country  with  the  repression  of  the  fine  and  ennobling  things 
of  city  life? 

If  we  are  candid  with  ourselves  we  are  forced  to  admit  that 
there  is.  a  tendency  in  this  direction.  To  any  unprejudiced  observer 
it  is- plain  that  many  of  the  evils  of  the  city  have  filtered  their  way 
into  the  country  and  are  deeply  intrenched.     In  spite  of  this  I  be- 


THE    REGISTER  21 

lieve  the  country  offers  the  opportunity  for  implanting  Christian 
virtues  and  winning  men  to  Christ.  A  healthy  individualism  and 
strong  independence  prevail.  Even  the  tenants  are  not  subservient 
to  the  owners  of  the  land ;  they  resent  being  dictated  to  by  any  in- 
dividual; they  pride  themselves  upon  exercising  private  judgment. 
Opportunities  to  earn  a  living  are  plentiful.  Industrialism  in  the 
city  has  destroyed  the  basis  of  economic  independence.  Too  often 
the  courage  of  men  in  the  city  has  been  destroyed  by  the  constant 
fear  of  poverty.  Work  is  not  always  plentiful  in  industrial 
centers.  Men  learn  one  trade;  if  they  are  thrown  out  of 
work  in  their  chosen  occupation  they  find  it  hard  to  enter  another. 
Often  the  employers  are  dictators ;  they  try  to  force  those  who  work 
for  them  to  do  their  bidding  outside  the  daily  routine  of  toil. 
Many  times  they  succeed  in  their  obnoxious  purpose.  The  mass 
consciousness  is  more  prevalent  in  city  than  in  country.  People 
are  in  such  close  contact  with  one  another  that  they  unconsciously 
influence  one  another  by  psychic  power  rather  than  reason.  The 
Christian  gospel  makes  an  especial  appeal  to  the  independent  man. 
Christ  lamented  over  Jerusalem.  His  message,  so  simple  and  yet 
so  deep,  seemed  to  the  city  man  entirely  irrelevant.  On  the  well 
curb,  in  the  fields,  by  the  seashore,  and  on  the  mountain  sides,  He 
found  listening  multitudes. 

Again,  life  in  the  city  has  grown  mechanical.  Only  a  few  are 
alive  to  new  possibilities  and  have  the  necessary  obligation  laid  upon 
them  to  be  versatile.  The  average  man  has  learned  his  place  in 
the  great  machine  of  modern  industrialism.  No  new  problems 
thrust  themselves  into  his  life,  except,  perchance,  he  be  displaced. 
One  thing  he  has  to  do  and  very  often  so  simple  is  this  operation 
that  in  a  brief  space  of  time  habit  makes  this  action  automatic. 
Only  recently  I  read  of  seven  men  being  employed  to  make  one 
pin.  The  deadening  effect  of  this  can  hardly  be  imagined.  The 
man  who  finds  his  only  contribution  to  the  world  the  lifting  of  a 
lever  or  the  manipulation  of  a  machine  soon  loses  the  incentive 


22  THE    REGISTER 

necessary  to  make  life  a  joy.  He  is  not  an  artist,  he  turns  out  no 
finished  product,  his  skill  is  displayed  in  no  cunning  piece  of  work- 
manship, the  stamp  of  his  own  personality  is  on  nothing  that  he 
does.  Sometimes  he  lives  in  a  daily  fear  lest  a  new  machine  be 
devised  by  the  ingenious  mind  of  the  inventor  to  displace  him.  He 
is  a  cog.  This  fact  is  emphasized  when  the  employer  looks  upon 
the  laborer  as  a  unit  of  earning  capacity ;  and  the  labor  leader  looks 
upon  the  man  as  someone  to  be  herded  with  the  flock  so  as  to  pro- 
tect common  interests.     The  fact  that  he  is  human  is  forgotten. 

In  rural  life  we  have  a  striking  contrast  to  this ;  work  is  often 
hard  and  exhausting;  it  is,  however,  always  under  more  favorable 
conditions.  Plenty  of  fresh  air,  sunshine  and  wholesome  food  are 
to  be  found  in  abundance.  The  city,  with  its  tendency  to  bring 
about  abnormal  conditions,  is  absent.  In  its  place  are  the  restful 
country  scenes  conducive  to  meditation  and  original  thinking. 
The  monotonous  drone  of  the  bee,  the  song  of  the  lark,  the  wooded 
hillside  and  the  harvest  fields  indicative  of  rich  returns  in  autumn 
lend  poetic  charm.  Work  there  is  in  abundance,  but  it  always  has 
the  charm  of  variety.  Each  day's  task  calls  forth  new  powers  and 
exacts  the  full  measure  of  ingenuity.  The  rural  dweller  is  in  con- 
tact with  nature ;  its  mysteries  are  constantly  arousing  wonder  and 
forcing  the  mind  to  question  the  nature  of  the  underlying  reality. 
The  beauty  of  flower,  the  fragrance  of  orchards,  the  fertility  of 
field,  do  they  not  furnish  abundant  material  to  bring  home  the 
great  truths  of  religion  and  keep  the  mind  inspired  with  perennial 
freshness?  Country  life  prepares  the  mind  to  receive  Christian 
truths.  It -gives  illustrations  to  convey  the  deepest  facts  of  religious 
experience.  In  the  presence  of  the  great  power  and  beauty  of 
nature  man  cries  out,  "My  Lord  in  whom  I  trust." 

The  Christian  religion  is  surely  hampered  in  the  city  by  the 
belief  on  the  part  of  the  populace,  fostered  by  some  of  the  mem- 
bers of  its  own  household,  that  it  has  not  been  as  vigorous  in  mak- 
ing practical  application  of  Christian  truths  as  in  proclaiming  it 


THE    REGISTER  23 

from  the  pulpit.  Often  it  has  been  asserted  that  Christianity  has 
been  content  to  preach  minor  moralities  and  to  condemn  the  venial 
sin  of  individuals  when  it  should  have  proclaimed  universal  truths 
applicable  to  existing  conditions  and  should  have  scathingly  de- 
nounced its  rich  pewholders.  The  work  the  church  should  have 
done  is  being  advanced  by  organizations  filled  with  Christ's  love, 
but  entirely  emancipated  from  ecclesiastical  dogmas.  The  distrust 
of  organized  Christianity  in  the  city  can  only  be  overcome  by  a 
long  and  persistent  championing  of  every  good  cause  by  Christian- 
ity, and  a  most  vigorous  condemnation  of  evil,  even  though  it 
temporarily  suffer  injury.  In  the  rural  communities  no  such 
prejudices  need  to  be  overcome.  The  church  is  looked  upon  as 
the  friend  of  mankind,  the  advance  agent  of  culture,  charity  and 
spiritual  life.  Movements  are  beginning  to  challenge  its  place  of 
supremacy,  but  these  movements  are  only  in  incipient  stages  and  are 
often  looked  upon  with  distrust.  The  church,  by  avoiding  the 
mistakes  made  in  the  city,  by  being  aggressive  to  champion  every 
worthy  cause,  by  being  innovator,  may  become  the  very  soul  of  rural 
life.  Instead  of  the  city  leading  the  country,  the  country  may 
lead  the  city.  Country  life  definitely  won  for  Christ  would  mean 
that  the  cities  would  be  brought  into  subjection  to  Christ's  kindly 
yoke. 

Through  what  agency  is  the  church  to  fulfill  its  possibility  of 
being  thoroughly  Christian?  We  are  wont  to  ascribe  all  move- 
ments to  the  social  mass.  In  this  I  am  convinced  we  make  our 
mistake.  Huxley  said,  "The  advance  of  mankind  has  everywhere 
depended  upon  the  production  of  men  of  genius."  It  is  the  mind 
that  has  the  deeper  insight,  the  larger  vision,  the  finer  moral 
purpose,  that  ultimately  leads  its  fellows.  The  history  of  the 
progress  of  Christianity  is  marked  by  the  rise  of  successive  leaders 
great  enough  to  be  transmitters  to  their  own  generation  of  the 
Christ  life.  Recently  a  most  thorough  investigation  was  made 
into  the  religious  life  in  the  rural  districts  of  one  of  our  central 


24  THE    REGISTER 

Mississippi  Valley  states.  The  dismal  story  of  the  failure  of  the 
churches  in  this  state  was  that  they  lacked  leaders  capable  of 
making  the  gospel  understood  and  Christ  a  reality.  Christianity 
must  turn  the  passionate  genius  of  educated,  idealistic  young  men 
into  the  fields  of  Christian  service.  It  must  show  them  that  no 
civilization  has  ever  outlasted  the  demise  of  its  religious  faith.  If 
democracy  is  to  be  a  success,  if  civilization  is  not  to  retrograde  into 
paganism  and  thence  into  barbarism,  there  must  be  a  religious  life 
in  every  community  which  stands  for  the  mystic  vision,  for  the  sense 
of  the  unseen,  for  communion  with  the  timeless,  for  withdrawal, 
for  central-rootedness  and  rest. 


SI* 

V 

PS 

gjgiiflli: 

HPpP 

jShJSp 

;§f|Pi 

S3JS^8fc5^^,» 

Hll 

1^1 

§31111 

§fHg 

,<■_ 

Ill 

SBlSS 

